Mr. B. Willingly; and here is a bundle of things your mother was going to send to the little girl; you may take them, and some tracts, and tell her to ask her parents to let her come to see your mother to-morrow morning.
As Joseph passed along the court, he saw that the place was again cleared from the snow, and the birds were hopping about it. He thought of the poor lark.
Thomas was better, and able to stand. He told Joseph how kind Margaret had been. “You cannot think,” said he, “what a good girl she is. She is so attentive, so gentle, and so patient, that it is very plain her chief delight is in doing good to others.”
J. I suppose her parents have instructed her carefully?
T. They have nothing but their own labour to depend upon, but they have the fear of the Lord, and that is better than riches. They have brought up their children in his ways. If God had not sent them to be my neighbours, what would have become of me?
J. Margaret brought you some wood yesterday, did not she?
T. Yes, Sir; and her mother has told me how hard she worked to earn this money. Good girl! out she is always the same: she cannot see others in trouble without trying to do something to comfort them. Even dumb creatures share her kindness. She collects every crumb for “the dear pretty birds,” as she calls them.
J. It is very happy for a child to be born with such a kind disposition.
T. Oh, Sir, it is not by nature that she has this kind disposition. I knew her from a baby; and, till she was seven years old, she was just as thoughtless as other children: but since that time she has, by the grace of God, become very different.
J. Do you suppose she really loves Christ?